Starting to look back on the first semester of College, I begin to realize just how fast it has really gone. It feels like just last week that I was moving into my dorm, getting the syllabuses for all of my classes, and meeting some of my (now) good friends. I came into college with very few expectations, but I some have held up, and others have been different than what I expected. The nature of my classes is one thing that I had expectations of that actually held up pretty well. Going into college I expected classes to feel much more relaxed and have more of a 'you determine your success' mindset. This has held true in every form. I witness the people that I knew in high school that needed some push to do their work struggle to keep up, and others that are self sufficient thrive on the flexibility that college courses offer. The classes lectures, and grades are all of what I expected too, although a couple of my teachers, specifically math, have had grading systems that are kind of wacky. Overall though I am very pleased with the flexibility and self-determined success of University classes as a whole.
In CPSG100, the first class of the Science and Global Change Scholars program, we have covered a plethora of topics related to climate change and the atmosphere. One thing that I did not expect to cover in this class was the Logic and Critical thinking unit. This topic does not directly relate to climate change, so I was surprised to see it in the syllabus. I was happy that it was included however as it was one of my favorite lectures in the class. I did not come into the scholar’s course with many expectations of what to expect to learn but I did think we would cover more of how our carbon emissions have impacted the environment. Overall, I have been pleased with the content that I have learned in CPSG. The out of classroom activities, however, were events that I was not prepared for. I had never waded in a pond before the SGC service day at the aquatic gardens, so that was a completely new experience for me. The other outings were basically what I had expected though. I have been to DC many times since I am local, so the Metro Scavenger Hunt was a breeze, and I have been to Chesapeake beach once before, so I knew what to expect.
Life as a University Student is slightly different than my high school view of it. The living in a dorm room with very little privacy and space is exactly what I expected it to be, not great. What I did not expect is the sense of community north campus in general gives you. Even though there are close to forty thousand people attending University of Maryland, when you are in north campus you see the same few hundred people daily, so you get to know peoples names and its developed into a sort of home away from home. Otherwise it is mostly what I had expected, staying up late hanging out with people, sleeping in on days that I don’t have 9am’s and lots of fun, and work.
I have a few pieces of advice for incoming SGC students. One thing is to keep an open mind about basically everything. If you tell yourself that you are going to hate schoolwork, you’re going to hate it. Another thing is to not be afraid to meet new people throughout the year. Everyone is in the same boat when they get to college and putting yourself out there to meet new people is one way to find groups, stuff to do, and study groups. Finally, don’t be afraid, college seems intimidating but its actually really fun when you get settled.
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